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We're grateful that schools -- with a push from parents and community partners -- have given kids somewhere supervised to spend graduation night.

It takes a lot of work to pull together a graduation night party. It takes planning and donations and fundraising. But it's worth it for kids to have a safe option.

Kids still are going to make choices. Some of those choices will be better than others. We suppose that's a necessary step on the path to adulthood.

But here's our two cents: Be smart. After all, you have a diploma now.

You've worked too hard to get to what is really just the beginning of a grand new adventure.

Graduation gratitude

In November 2010, we started an experiment on this page. We devoted the Thursday letter to the editor space entirely to folks wanting to express gratitude.

It caught on.

People routinely tell us that Thankful Thursday is their favorite part of the paper.

This year, however, is the first time we have had graduating seniors using the forum to express appreciation to their parents, teachers and mentors.

That's an encouraging trend.

We're grateful the community has responded so enthusiastically to our experiment, and we're especially happy to see the youths in our community showing appreciation for those who have helped them.

It bodes well for the future.

On their way

One graduation story we've never seen before is quintuplets turning the tassels together.

The Bowman siblings will be marching with Hanford High on Saturday. Then their journeys will continue in five different directions.

From the start, these kids have been in the news for routine milestones, from being born to graduating from high school.

But each event is multiplied by five.

It has been fun for the community to see them grow. We appreciate the family for sharing these moments with us. It's maybe a little invasive to share your lives with all of us. But thank you. And good luck!

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